First Look: The biggest swell of the winter at Pe’ahi

The past few days have been buzzing with anticipation as our Instagram feeds filled with images and videos of big-wave heroes packing 10-foot guns into unwieldy coffin bags and flying to Maui from every corner of the world. What was waiting for them at the end of that red eye? Well, the big reveal started yesterday afternoon as the swell began filling in at Jaws and guys like Aaron Gold started scratching against brutal offshores into house-sized waves. Today the chaos continued with the most punishing Jaws conditions we've seen all winter. Many of the biggest names in big-wave surfing stepped up to that terrifying but thrilling plate and angled for elusive 20-foot tubes. Below is a small sampler of the swell action at Pe'ahi to whet the appetite. Check back tomorrow for the main course.